1. Technical Field
This invention relates to transportation carts and, more particularly, to an adaptable transport cart for use with strollers and the like for assisting a caregiver to simultaneously maneuver a baby stroller while carrying a variety of objects within the cart during operating conditions.
2. Prior Art
Parents of infants and young children frequently desire a wheeled child carrier or stroller on which the child can be seated to permit the parents to push the stroller and the child when the parents are walking. Such child strollers are widely used by parents during various activities. Among such activities is shopping. Reaching a store or shopping center often requires traveling by automobile. This necessitates the transporting of the child stroller in the automobile. Consequently, collapsible child strollers are popular. When shopping, the parents frequently accumulate a significant number of packages which require transporting, either back to the automobile or directly to the home or other location. Since properly controlling the child stroller requires the use of two hands, it is difficult, if not impossible, for one parent to both control the child stroller and to carry the packages. Although there are wheeled package carriers available, they generally are not collapsible for transporting in an automobile. In addition, it is not possible for one parent to both control a child stroller and control a wheeled package carrier. Further, such wheeled package carriers generally do not protect the packages from the weather.
Once a child is able to walk, the child can, and often prefers to, walk for some distance even when a child stroller is available. Thus, it is possible to use the child stroller for the carrying of packages, with the child walking and holding on either to the child stroller or to the parent. However, the child stroller, being designed for a child to sit on it, has a maximum weight carrying capacity of about 40 pounds and a limited ability to hold bulky packages. Consequently, the child stroller has limited ability to carry large, heavy packages. In addition, often people without children desire a package carrier when shopping. Many such people, for example, grandparents or other relatives of a child, find it desirable to have available a child stroller even though they do not use it every day, since they desire to have it available for when a grandchild or other young relative or friend visits.
One prior art example shows a convertible child stroller/package carrier having a wheeled frame, a child seat which can be removably fastened to the frame to provide a child stroller, and a package holder which likewise can be removably fastened to the wheeled frame to provide a package carrier. The wheeled frame ordinarily has four legs, with a wheel assembly on each. Two additional legs with wheel assemblies can be attached on the rear of the wheeled frame to provide additional stability when carrying heavy packages. The wheeled frame is preferably hinged to permit folding of the child stroller/package carrier for ease of transporting, either by carrying by hand or by placement in an automobile or other vehicle. The package holder is preferably a weather resistant bag or a mesh bag and is preferably provided with a drawstring for closing of the bag when the package carrier is removed from the wheeled frame. Unfortunately, this example requires switching out of the seat for the bag as necessary, which can be difficult and time consuming.
Another prior art example shows a convertible stroller and shopping vehicle having a stroller portion and a shopping vehicle portion. The stroller portion includes a seat which is movable from a deployed position to a stowed position. In the deployed position, the invention is used as a stroller. The shopping vehicle portion includes a collapsible receptacle that can be oriented in one of two orientations. In an open orientation, the receptacle creates a shopping cart while in a collapsed orientation the invention can be used to transport bulk materials. Unfortunately, this example does not provide a suitable seating area for a child when not being used as a shopping cart.
Accordingly, a need remains for an adaptable transport cart for use with strollers and the like in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing an assembly that is simple and easy to use, is lightweight yet durable in design, and assists a caregiver to simultaneously maneuver a baby stroller while carrying a variety of objects within the cart. Such an assembly conveniently provides ample storage in which a wide variety of personal items can be neatly and easily stored. The assembly can effectively hold grocery items as well as luggage, and advantageously folds flat against an existing stroller, thus conveniently offering compact and convenient storage between uses.